Life Giver, Death Bringer::Beyond the First Songs
by Golden Lioness-Goldie
Summary: On Pandora, ancient wreckage is found. All the Na'vi know is that it isn't human. Two will find the answer, and one is a former human. The other is an albino Na'vi. Together, they discover the dark past that haunts Eywa herself. JxN,OcxOc. M for violence.
1. Landing

**A/N: I know, I'm a bad girl, working on four stories at once, but I must! This is my first non-Naruto fanfic, so I hope it gets reviews!**

**This is mainly set among the Na'vi, so English won't be commonly spoken. It will be spoken occasionally, though! ****It will be typed to look different than normal, since normal for this story is Na'vi. ****Also, words you should know of Na'vi, like _skxawng_, moron, or _faketuan, _alien, I will spell as the Na'vi say it. If anyone gets confused, contact me and I will explain.  
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Everyone knows how Jake Sully dreamed of flying before he came to Pandora. I was very different. I constantly dreamed of _running._ I dreamed of the freedom to run unchecked through a lush forest, and yet I could walk or run whenever I chose. When I was growing up, I was not what you would call normal. For one thing, the language I had grown up speaking was not the language spoken by everyone else. For another, I had graduated college with honors before I was eight years old. Of course, I had good reason for that. I was supposed to be a prodigy, meant to be an eight-year-old scientist.

Before I was born, my scientist parents had entered a contract with the government. They had recently created an unproven medical serum that accelerated brain capacity, memory, speech centers, and, most importantly, intelligence. The government got them to see what would happen if they wrote the serum's code into a human's DNA. So, my parents created me, writing in the substitute pattern. They did, however, resolve that I would have three years of a school-less childhood. They were Na'vi enthusiasts. They were in love with Pandora, the Na'vi, everything about them.

When I was born, they only spoke Na'vi around me. When I turned two they began to teach me English, better known as Common. Thus, I went through my life with a Na'vi accent. I became, at eight years of age, a prominent scientist continuously discovering new ways to keep our dying planet alive. I had been raised, for however short a time, with Na'vi values about the life of a place. I loved plants, but I rarely saw them. I hated the gray drabness of Earth, its lack of greenery. I couldn't help that. I hadn't destroyed the earth. I had been born approximately three years after the ill-fated attempt to mine Pandora.

But, I am rambling again. My name is Tanhita'em, pronounced Tawn-ee tah-em. It's Na'vi for Star Up Above. I go by Tanhi, even now. I should get on with the story I intended to tell you. It was my tenth birthday, and no one cared. I was alone in my lab at four in the morning, splicing plant DNA onto a chicken, to see if citric acid could be consumed from easily raised poultry instead of difficult-to-grow orange trees. I wasn't having much luck.

"Dammit! Stupid chicken!"

The beaked offender clucked at me forlornly. It had just begun to sprout tail feathers made of leaves. Not at _all_ what I was looking for. I wiped my face on the sleeve of my lab coat. I was so busy trying to fix the chicken that I didn't even notice someone enter my lab. When I did, I didn't even bother to turn around. At this time, only one person would possibly be awake aside from myself. He also happened to be the last person I wanted in my lab. General Markl Howell Fikes, the jarhead face of the government.

I started mumbling to myself in what I always consider as my first language, Na'vi. General Fikes didn't speak a word of it, which was an added bonus. "Stupid skxawng, barging in before sunrise. I _will_ kill him if he doesn't have a good reason."

He walked up behind me, his six foot six inch frame dwarfing my tiny ten-year-old body, causing me to turn around and begin chewing him out. "Why are you here, General? Have I committed a...cap-ee-tal offense?" I still had trouble with some words, and the accent was unavoidable. The skxawng of a jarhead merely laughed loudly.

"Hell no, Doctor. I was just curious what you were working on so late, or so early, as it were."

I was not about to tell the idiot. Every time I spoke Na'vi, he laughed. He constantly told me I wasn't 'one of the blue monkeys.' I, in turn, reminded him that the Na'vi had brutally and effectively driven the humans, the skypeople, out of Pandora while he was still a private. He had been lucky not to be killed by Jake Sully, as he had called him 'Meals on Wheels' when Jake first came to Pandora. I was about to respectfully request that he leave my lab when his earpiece made a sound. I couldn't quite hear, but I became confused very fast as all the blood drained out of his face. He bent towards me, whispering now. "Doctor...er...Tahnita'em, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Yes, what is it, man? I have meetings in three hours."

He gulped. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, Doctor, but some of my men have just discovered the bodies of your parents in an alley on West Side New York. They were mugged and shot, ma'am."

My...my parents? I was shocked. Then angry.I began speaking in Na'vi, angrily. "Stupid tawtute! Killing people for money! Why? They have no respect for life!"

I was clutching the table for support. My parents were dead. Dead and gone, and me a ten-year-old. I couldn't believe it. I looked up, and General Fikes was gone. I ran across the lab, forgetting all about the leaf-tailed chicken. My fingers flying over the V-board, I typed in the command to turn on the voice-sensitive computer. It dinged and said, "Please state the nature of the scientific need."

I quickly began to speak. "Computer, what is the minimum amount of human DNA needed to create a functioning AVATR body?"

"Five point three percent."

"Is there Na'vi DNA available?"

"Classified information. Please enter access code."

"Doctor Tanhita'em, alpha alpha beta five."

"Code accepted. Please say a command."

"If Na'vi DNA is available, can you place it in a container that will hold it in stasis for transport?"

"Affirmative. Commence storage?"

"Use DNA of a female Na'vi and commence."

"Storing...Storage complete. Is there a human sample you wish to add?"

"Add DNA from Doctor Tanhita'em. Combine, store and process."

"Percentage?"

"Five point three."

"Commencing...Command complete. Eject container for transport?"

"Yes. Station five B."

I watched the computer slowly allow a small plexiglas phial eject from the slot. I took it, then said, "Computer, delete history from four-thirteen AM to four-twenty AM, then commence shutdown."

The computer complied, and I left, heading to my next destination: The military shipyard on campus. I was leaving this ball of rock behind and going to Pandora, all by myself, with six years ahead of me to be spent growing my Avatar and preparing to enter the world of the Na'vi.

* * *

Since it was so early in the morning, no one barred my way, carrying the carefully wrapped stasis chamber containing my future. I was not blinded by rage, but fueled by cold, somewhat cruel determination. If my only family was gone, Earth had no place for me. I would work over the course of six years to make myself less human, more Na'vi. I knew that I could help the Na'vi. I knew how many babies had died because the healers didn't know what to do with a baby facing the wrong way. I did. I snuck over to a tiny science vessel, just big enough to house four crew members. It had a lab, however. This was the original ship on which the first Avatar was grown. Because of this, it had a facility I could create my Avatar in. I opened the spring-release door, making my way straight to the laboratory. I place the DNA tube in a slot. "Computer."

-Bleep- "Please state the nature of the scientific need."

"Transfer language parameters to Na'vi and use DNA in slot sixteen C to begin creation of a Na'vi Avatar."

"Commencing."

Good. I wouldn't have to worry about speaking English. I began liftoff procedures. The ship was silent as a ghost as it entered the air. As soon as I entered space, I set the ship on autopilot, straight for Pandora, and shut down life support to three of the four crewman's quarters, diverting all extra power to the lab. I took my last look at Earth, and nearly cried at the gray ball. The oceans were brown, there was gray-signaling cement-everywhere, and I could even see some of the gigantic ziggurat-shaped gray housing structures called Linears, made to house the overblown population. I turned from the window and returned to the lab, preparing for what I hoped would be my new life on Pandora.

* * *

Six years. Six long years. For six years, I had maintained the science vessel, the growing avatar, and myself. I had worked on the ship, outside in a space suit, fixing the patchy outer hull while the ship traveled at three thousand light years per minute. I had grown during this time, from a young, rash child of ten to a focused, more mature young woman of sixteen.

I glanced at the amino tank behind me, staring with wonder at the nine-foot-long being floating in the nutrient liquid. It moved now, turning its head, a fist curling here, an ear flicking back there. I saw its face, with the flat, catlike nose and large eyes. It wasn't me, and yet...I saw my own features reflected in it. My thin-bridged nose translated to a slightly less wide one on my avatar. My eyes were large for a human, so the avatar's eyes were larger than normal, about the size of a regular Na'vi. The only reason that this body wasn't me yet was because I was here, on the outside looking in. I smiled when I looked closely at the mouth of the avatar. It seemed to be smiling, ever so slightly, a mere curl of the corners of the mouth. It kicked then, hard. Its foot hit the side of the tank, creating a loud _thwud_! I jumped, then resettled. I turned out the lights in the lab. As I walked back to the small set of rooms and prepared for sleep, I could hardly stop myself from shaking. I was due to arrive on Pandora in twenty-four hours. I was close.

* * *

_Plants whipped around me, ferns, tree leaves, things I had never seen. I felt soft loam under the soles of my bare feet, moving at high speed. I was running. I was free._

I sat up in my bed, looking around myself, bewildered. "Gah-wha-"

I stared at the Earth Mean Time clock on the shelf. Six thirty-five AM, Greenwich Mean Time. "Crap! I slept in!"

I whipped off the blanket, throwing on my clothing. "I'm such a skxawng!"

I bolted to the lab, shoveling the last of a ration down my throat. I would be arriving at Pandora in seven hours. I had to triple-check my Avatar, mix gases in the ship to those of Pandora, put on an exopack, land the ship and get my avatar out of the amino tank before it grew another inch. I also had to find the Na'vi. I began checking the avatar over, mumbling to myself. "Okay, reflexes, fine, organs, functioning, Tsa'haylu tendrils..." I ran a double check on the pink tendrils that would float from the end of my avatar's braid, which extended down to slightly past the base of its tail. "Working." I breathed a sigh of relief. If those didn't work, I was totally screwed for good. I dug an exopack out of a nearby cabinet and placed it over my face, sealing it. My voice muffled by the plastic, I began to configure the air on the ship.

"Computer, re-mix the gas ratio on board ship. Twenty percent nitrogen, ten percent oxygen, twenty percent helium, and fifty percent carbon monoxide."

The ship complied, and I turned to the amino tank, beginning the process of removing the avatar body from it. I placed a special gurney outside the tank door, then began draining the liquid. When my avatar's nose and mouth were uncovered, I surgically removed the artificial umbilical cord, separating it so that it didn't leave a stump. I then drained the rest of the fluid with the hatch open, taking about fifteen minutes to place my avatar on the gurney. I carefully dressed it in a wraparound skirt I had found on the ship and an old baggy t-shirt, which was all I had on hand. I had planned to get traditional Na'vi clothes once I talked to Jake Sully. I knew all about Toruk Makto, and knew that I needed to speak with him to reach my goal. I left the avatar on the gurney, which was now stuck to the floor, and began to prepare for landing. I looked up from the console in front of me and gasped in wonder. Pandora was spread below me, green and blue and lush, the exact opposite of Earth. The giant Polyphemus, above it, attracted my attention for a split second, then I looked back at Pandora. I saw a relatively tiny, but still obvious, brown scar. I figured that was the old RDA station. I set landing for that spot and sat back to wait for the time when I would finally land on the soil of the planet I had spent six years of my life working to reach.

* * *

Ten minutes and fourteen seconds later, I touched down on the surface of Pandora. I had been busy running a few more scans on my avatar when there was a light thud and the hissing of an opening door. My exopack was fogged with the heat of my breath, so excited was I. I carefully glanced out the open ramp. The sight that greeted me would have frightened any human not raised knowing about these things out of their mask. Ikran, blue, green, purple, roared everywhere, Pa'li reared and bucked, squealing, and on and around them, a thousand neurotoxin-dipped arrows aimed directly at my head and heart.

I walked onto the ramp, hands raised to show thet I was weaponless. A tall male Na'vi walked out of the crowd, which parted in front of him like ancient Moses and the Red Sea. He was nine foot six, very tall for a Na'vi. As he approached, I noticed a number of things. First, he had a bow painted in the colors of the creature called Toruk, what the humans called a Great Leonopteryx. Second, his hair, while it was in the traditional warrior's style, was colorfully decorated with beads. His eyes and nose were also somewhat smaller than normal. He had eyebrows, and five fingers. This told me that he was Jake Sully, Toruk Makto. He bent in front of me, his great golden eyes boring through my comparatively tiny gray ones. He softly, carefully spoke to me like he might a frightened Pa'li. "Who are you, human?"

I looked up at him, then spoke in Na'vi, fluent as a native. "I See You, Olo'eyktan." I had guessed what he had become by the beaded collarlike garment he wore. "I am the only human on that ship. My name is Tanhita'em, and I mean you no harm."

He looked skeptical. "And you expect me to believe that, human?"

I nodded. "Because it is the truth, yes. Search this vessel if you wish. You will find an avatar body, nothing else. The avatar is mine. If you will allow it, I will tell you my reasons for appearing here."

Jake motioned to a pair of warriors. "Search it. If she lies, she will die. If not, bring the dreamwalker body out with you."

The warriors nodded and entered the ship. Now, all I had to do was convince them of my true intentions. As I sweated it out on the dirt, Jake looked down at me with what appeared to be concern, saying, "How old are you? How do you speak Na'vi so well?"

I was more than happy to tell him. "I'm sixteen. I stole this ship to get away from Earth when I was ten. I speak Na'vi because I was raised with it as my primary language."

Jake was about to say something else, but was cut short by the return of the two warriors, carrying my avatar body between them. I heard a few shocked whispers of _uniltranitokx_ and _faketuan_, as well as a couple _vrrtep_s thrown in here and there. Jake looked askance at the warriors. "Zan'sa. Pamti'gra. Does she lie?"

The shorter of the two, Zan'sa, shook his head. "No, Olo'eyktan. She tells the truth."

The other warrior, Pamti'gra, who had a scar running down his left cheek, various other ones covering his body and a ragged ear, nodded his agreement. "There were no lights in other areas of the vessel. Only the area we found the body in and a small set of alcoves set up for sleep."

Jake turned to me. "And why do you wish to be here?"

"I wish", I hesitated, "I wish to leave the Tawtute behind and become Na'vi. I have no love for the Tawtute or their gray planet."

Jake's ears perked. He was interested. "You say your name is Tanhita'em?"

"Yes. It is."

"That's a Na'vi name. It means Star Up Above."

"Yes, I know, Olo'eyktan. All I want is for you to allow me to pass through the Eye of Eywa. She can decide whether or not I am worthy."

Jake frowned, then turned to the crowd. "People! Is there one among you who can confirm Eywa's judgement?"

The crowd parted, and a short female Na'vi stepped forward. She was not naturally born, that much was clear in her eyebrows, five fingers and speech. Her Na'vi was good, but not as good as Jake's, nor as good as mine. Her golden eyes smiled at me. "I am Sara Mason of the Tipani Clan. I have passed through the Eye of Eywa, and shall determine if this Tawtute is worthy of trial."

She stepped up to me, put her large hand over my heart, and looked directly at my eyes. Golden orbs bored into my heart, my soul, me. She said, "what would you say about Earth, knowing its history?"

I answered without hesitation. "It is hard to watch something die right in front of you, but the hardest part is knowing how alive it used to be."

She stepped back with a smile on her face. "This one is worthy, Jake. She may even pass Eywa's test."

With that, the strange Tawtute-turned Na'vi disappeared into the crowd of blue faces. Jake looked at me, smiling at my slightly unnerved expression. "You are very lucky, Tanhita'em, that we were in the middle of a meeting between clans when you were spotted. Otherwise, you would probably be dead. Sara is part of the coastal Tipani clan, a very smart, successful and intelligent member who is highly valued. If she thinks you can pass, you just might."

He turned to the rest of the assembled Na'vi. "Members of the Omaticaya, tell Tsahik to bring everyone to the Tree of Souls. We are testing this Tawtute!"

I was bodily swung onto an Ikran, held at the waist by Jake himself. Hundreds of Ikran took off, the one I was on included. I looked down and nearly bit Jake's finger off. For some reason, the sight of the trees scared me. I couldn't handle the tops moving so fast below. I guess it was just the movement of the Ikran's wings. It was nothing like running. I felt as if I was tossing up and down on an angry ocean, wracked by the cries of dying animals. So, I clung to Jake's large hand and squeezed my eyes shut. I was flying, and I hated it.

* * *

I only opened my eyes when I felt the ikran touch down. I prayed to Eywa I wasn't on a tree branch, since I would probably slip and die as a human. When my feet hit the ground, I sighed in relief at the feel of grainy dirt under my toes. My shoes had fallen off during the flight. I realized, looking around, that I was at what must have been the Omaticaya Kelutrel. A humongous spiraling tree, roots twisted and torqued, gnarly limbs over a hundred feet wide high above my head. The next thing I realized was that two female Na'vi were walking towards Jake and I. One was clearly the Tsahik, beads dripping everywhere, her braid somehow becoming two and being tied in front, not behind her. She was also old. Not human old, wrinkled and weak, but Na'vi old, streaks of gray shooting through her hair, a steely look about her that just made you want to turn tail and run, were it not for the fact you would probably be dead before you got very far. The other Na'vi was a bit younger than Jake appeared to be, with a beautiful face that seemed carved out of blue ebony. I realized their names as Jake called out, "Kaltxi, Mo'at! Kaltxi, Neytiri! I brought the strange tawtute. Sara Mason thinks she can pass Eywa's test."

The Tsahik, Mo'at, bent to look at my face. "She has your eyes, Jakesully. Determined, not giving up." She quickly whipped out a thorn hung around her neck, stabbing me in the side.

"Ouch!"

As I watched, she tasted the blood on the thorn. Her face changed. It softened, her steely demeanor disappearing in an instant. She slotted the thorn back into its little holster, and, for the first time, spoke directly to me. "Child...You are different. You have, like Jakesully, a strong heart. However, you have fear, you have longing. You have loneliness. If you pass the test of Eywa, you will be a valuable member of the Omaticaya. If I am correct, you can See that which all others cannot."

I opened my mouth, but was unable to speak, as Mo'at gave out a sharp "Jake! Neytiri!"

I turned around to see a sheepish-looking Jake and a Neytiri who was blushing purple. I didn't know what they were doing, nor did I wish to, but Mo'at clearly didn't care about that. "The two of you can have all the fun you want-later! Neytiri, can you take Tanhita'em to the Tree of Souls by Pa'li? Jake seems to think she did not enjoy her flight."

Neytiri nodded, motioning to me. I followed her, wondering what Mo'at had meant about what I could See. Neytiri had pulled me up in front of her gigantic body onto the Pa'li when Mo'at called out again. "Neytiri, try to find your son. He was with a hunting party today, so he is unaware of the present climate."

Neytiri nodded, speaking to me as the Pa'li began to move forward. "My son, Atan, is eighteen human years old. He is not easy to find, but I would ask you to look for him."

"How will I know him from other males?"

Neytiri smiled slightly. "His hair is not in the traditional style. He refused to have it cut, and it is shaggy and falls over his eyes. Also, he is white."

"White? He's white? Are his eyes red and his hair golden?" I was confused.

"Yes. Normspellman called him 'al-bee-no' when he was born."

"Albino? Why isn't he easy to find?"

"He disappears quicker than atokirina when he wishes to."

I had figured something of the sort. The fact that he was alive at all was a testament to his skill. The Pa'li began to run, and I found myself enjoying the feel of its six powerful legs thwudding onto the ground. Each pounding hoof felt like a great drum, thunderous and powerful. I kept looking around me, gigantic bushes and trees whipping by. All of a sudden, I saw a flash of pure snow white. "Neytiri! The left, running fast!"

Neytiri began to yell. "Atan! I know you're out there! Head to the Tree of Souls, my son!"

The white flash sped up, getting in front of us. I saw a Pa'li's gleaming hide, purplish green. Then, riding the Pa'li, a white back. Skin that should have been a cobalt blue was a whited-out sky color, stripes that should have been a dark navy were a washed-out gold. The hair flying back, and the braid connected to the Pa'li, was burnished yellow but glowing like gold. Even the fur on the end of the young male's tail was pale gold. I knew that here was an extremely strong young hunter, and that he was probably treated like a special, holy object. His arrows were even fletched in alternating white and gold feathers. He was faster than us, probably because Neytiri didn't want to frighten me. At any rate, we reached the Tree of Souls within fifteen minutes. The Pa'li her son had been riding was slurping nectar from a plant, its rider already gone. As Neytiri lifted me off the Pa'li, I gaped in wonder at the enormous tee before us. Over a hundred Na'vi were there, braids already connected to Eywa. I saw a single white back, in about the third row, waiting. My attention snapped to Mo'at, standing on a sort of natural platform, with my avatar body, now clothed as one of the Na'vi, at her feet. Neytiri carried me right up to her, plopping me gently onto the ground next to my avatar. Mo'at began to sing, and I was no longer aware of everything around me, just the consciousness inside the tree.

I fell through a tunnel of light, landing on sand. I stood quickly, noticing that I was still a human. A brook gurgled nearby, and I looked at it carefully before stooping over it, gazing at the face in the water. My human face. Gray, tired-looking eyes, far too old for even a fifty-year old. Pale pinkish skin, like a peach. The brown hair, long and somewhat unkempt. The reflection looked back at me and smiled, though I knew my face hadn't moved. The reflection changed, changed into a Na'vi. But it was _wrong._ The eyes of the Na'vi were not amber or brown, they were clouded, dark gray, and there appeared to be rings of black all throughout them. They were cold and merciless, and what had been a sweet smile transformed into a bone-chilling snarl, bared fangs clarly visibe. Worst of all, the reflection of the Na'vi expanded, until I could see that the Na'vi was clad in a blackened, blood-covered armored outfit, holding a gun that was tiny, but clearly lethal. Even its tail was armored, interlocking plates shifting like scales. I saw the smoldering remains of a gray, once-bustling city, but I couldn't tell if it was on Earth or not. I jerked back, shocked, and fell onto another human's legs.

"Aah!"

I looked up. The face above me was one I'd seen only in pictures. Red hair and a steely expression, it was Grace Augustine. Her somewhat disapproving expression made me begin to panic. I figured that I wasn't going to become a Na'vi, judging by the way Dr. Augustine was staring at me. I stood up quickly, my five-foot human frame tiny, even against her five-foot-nine-inch body in sneakers. As I stood there waiting, I couldn't help but think that Grace was undeniably the most amazing person I'd ever seen or heard about. She walked around me, looking everywhere except my eyes. When she was in front of me again, she looked right at me. Her light brown, undeniably human eyes looked through my iron gray ones. Her brow furrowed, then relaxed.

"So you want to become a Na'vi, do you?"

I blinked. Her voice sounded like my mothers. I stuttered at her. "I-i-y-I... I, uh, yeah, I mean yes!"

She smiled then. "Well, Tanhi, looks like you're lucky. Apparantly, you should have been born Na'vi."

She tooka drag on a cigarette she was holding, but it disappeared. She said "Alright already, jeez" under her breath, then looked at me again.

"What did you see in the water?"

I opened my mouth, trying to explain, but Grace shook her head. "Never mind. You should get going now, but you should know now that if you ever try to tame an ikran, it won't turn out like it should."

I felt myself being dragged away. Grace continued, saying, "Just remember, Tanhi-flight ain't everything. Oh, and tell Jake from me that he's a jarhead."

* * *

**Sara Mason belongs to Sapphire-Raindrop, author of The Avatar Chronicles: To Truly See. Thanks for permission, hope this was okay!**


	2. A Meeting

**A/N: I am very pleased by the reviews I have gotten so far on this story, so I am choosing to continue writing it. As always, I do not own Avatar. If I did, I would be both immensely rich and famous as well as an absolute genius. **

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* * *

**My eyes snapped open, and I sat straight up with a scream.

"Aah!"

I looked around me. The Na'vi gathered at the tree had stopped singing and swaying, staring at me. I saw one golden head, with a pair of red eyes, looking not at me, but slightly to my left. I turned and almost collapsed with shock. A human girl, her body crumpled and lifeless. I couldn't quite figure out who she was. Her brown hair was splayed on the ground, her body tiny and forlorn. As I watched, Neytiri leaned over and removed the exopack on her face. I was about to scream "Don't!", but a hand on my shoulder brought me up short. It had only three fingers plus a thumb. I turned speedily, slapping the hand off my shoulder. Then, I realized that the hand I had used was blue.

I looked down at myself to find that I was a pale ocean color, with darker stripes everywhere. Something unconsciously moved, and I whipped around, trying to catch sight of it. I realized that it was a tail, and it was attached to the base of my spine. With that, I understood that I was a Na'vi. I turned again to the human, and I realized that she was me. I stood, slightly unbalanced, and walked to the body, where I knelt, and saw just how small humans truly were. Her eyes were open, the tiny gray orbs already glazed over in death. I closed them, willing myself not to cry. As the lids slid over the stormcloud eyes for the last time, Neytiri, now an inch shorter than me, surprisingly, tapped me.

"You may bury her, if you wish."

I nodded, the braid going down my back bobbing. I found that I had longer strands of hair falling over my face, and that they were artfully dressed in braids. It must have been done while my human body was going to hometree, then to the Tree of Souls. I picked up the tiny, lifeless human body that I had worn for sixteen years, surprised at how light it was, like a feather. I walked, steadier now, to a small, human-sized hole already prepared nearby. I placed the body into it, and a single atokirina drifted onto it. I shoved the dirt back into the hole, turning to Mo'at, Neytiri, Jake and the rest. I wiped my tear-stained face. "Jake...I saw Grace."

Before he could speak, I rushed on. "She said I should have been born Na'vi. She also said you were a jarhead. I'm ready to become a Na'vi. Please, Olo'eyktan, accept me!"

* * *

Jake had merely nodded to me, saying, "We were going to anyway, Tanhita'em. No need to worry."

After the gathering had broken up, Jake and Neytiri led me over to one of the warriors from before, Pamti'gra. He scared me a little, with his scarred body and ragged ear. He was missing about a third of it, and it looked like it had been ripped off. Of course, I know I shouldn't have been worried. Jake walked up to Pamti'gra and greeted him traditionally. "Oel ngati kamie, Pamti'gra."

"Oel ngati kamie, Olo'eyktan."

Pamti'gra's voice was somewhat deep, with a gravelly tone I assumed came from the scar across his windpipe. He looked quizzically at me as Jake began to speak to me. "Pamti'gra and his mate, Raisyk, have no children of their own. I'm sure Pamti'gra and Raisyk would be happy to treat you as their daughter. What do you say, Pamti'gra?"

Pamti'gra cocked his head, his ragged ear flicking forward with just as much swiftness as his whole one. "As our...daughter? Olo'eyktan...I would be very pleased, but Raisyk...I'm not sure what she would think."

Jake grinned, looking very human as he did so. "Well, all we have to do is ask her, hm?"

Pamti'gra turned around, watching a female about his age(which l guessed at about forty) walk up. She was, like me, a pale ocean color with darker stripes. Her tail flicked behind her as she sauntered up to Pamti'gra, sliding her arms over his scarred shoulders. Her voice, quiet and smooth, greeted Jake. "Oel ngati kamie, Olo'eyktan. What is it you are asking of us?"

Jake grinned again. "Kaltxi, Raisyk. I was suggesting to Pamti'gra that, perhaps, you might accept Tanhita'em here into your home. She is a juvenile, physically as well as mentally. As you have no children, I thought you might enjoy a young one making your life difficult."

I could see the joke he had made. Apparently, so had Raisyk and Pamti'gra. Pam'tigra looked at his mate questioningly. She laughed, a bubbly laugh that, I thought, was similar to mine. "Of course, Olo'eyktan. She looks to have great potential. Besides, I always wanted a daughter."

At this, she turned to me. "Well, child? What do you think? Will you let me be your Sa'nu?"

I began nodding, pleased. I had parents again! "Yes,Sa'nu! Yes, Sempu!"

* * *

After a crash course on Tsahaylu, courtesy of my new father, Pamti'gra, I found an extra Pa'li. Raisyk, my new mother, had called her ikran in order to free up the Pa'li she had ridden to the Tree of Souls. I slowly walked up to the Pa'li, calming her(don't ask me how I knew her gender) with "Mawey, Siltra, mawey."

Siltra, for that was her name, was supposed to be a more rebellious Pa'li, but I had no trouble with her. I gently connected the end of my braid to the tentacle flowing back from her head, gasping when her mind washed over mine. I felt her consciousness, not intelligence, not enough to speak anyway, but instinct, oh yes, plenty of instinct. The normal instincts, to eat, to mate, to survive, but overall, an overwhelming urge to _run._I swung up onto her back, carefully shifting slightly forward into a surprisingly comfortable position, like that of an ancient Earth jockey, so as not to injure my new tail. Pamti'gra shifted on his Pa'li, saying, "Tanhita'em, follow me. Memorize the way back to Hometree."

With that, he took off running, with me directly behind him. Even as I memorized the way to Hometree, I enjoyed the feel of the six powerful legs pounding the ground, leaping clear of logs and rocks, through a small stream, the clear, cool water splashing into my face, tasting, to my surprise, of something that, on Earth, was genetically engineered for world holidays. Strawberries. I had only tasted them once, on the two thousand and fiftieth anniversary of something called Christmas. I was four. Nobody even knew what Christmas was anymore, just that it was important. Siltra sauntered after the Pa'li Pamti'gra was riding, stopping at a tree with more of the nectar-filled pods I had seen earlier. I dismounted, breaking the Tsahaylu easily. I walked easily now, feeling energized after the exhilarating run through the forest.

I garnered some stares, but all the people who looked, seeing me with Pamti'gra and hearing him calling me his daughter, quickly glanced away. I followed Pamti'gra up the tree, scaling its limbs like I had been born to them. I just let my body do what felt right. Following Pamti'gra steadily up the tree, we entered inside the tree itself.

I followed him up the central spiral core about ten stories, but I wasn't the least bit tired. I figured that this was in part because of my new Na'vi body, and in part the energy of running. Pamti'gra split off from the main spiral, following a small trail of luminescent lights into an alcove of hollow wood. My scientist's mind immediately guessed that it had once been a gigantic burl in the wood, but time had hollowed it out. Raisyk was already there, hanging up a third hammock a little way away from the other two already inside. She saw Pamti'gra and I walking in. She smiled, tied an efficient knot and walked over to us, flicking Pamti'gra affectionately on the cheek with her tail. She hugged me gently, reminding me of the way my human mother had always hugged me. "How are you, my daughter? Siltra gave you no trouble?"

I smiled. "No, Sa'nu, she did not. I am happy to be here with you and Sempu."

Raisyk smiled again, warm and welcoming. "I am pleased, Tanhita'em. However, we have an engagement to keep. Have you met the son of our Olo'eyktan yet?"

"No, Sa'nu. I have seen him, from a distance." I was confused.

Pamti'gra broke in. "He is to make Iknimaya today. Tsahik Mo'at has asked our family to be one of the few allowed to watch, in order to show you what happens there."

I smiled. Now, maybe, I would get to meet the mysterious white prince. "When do we leave?"

Pamti'gra grinned ferally. "Immediately. I think that, though you are young, we can send you behind Atan and Neytiri. Your mother and I will be taking our ikran, Selkin and Liir."

I can't say I was surprised to be so casually referred to as "Daughter", nor to Raisyk and Pamti'gra as "Mother" and "Father". It was just the way the Na'vi were. I accepted this, casually smiling. "Of course, Sempu. Do you wish for me to meet Atan before we depart?"

Raisyk nodded. "We should do that now, Tanhita'em." She turned back to me, smiling. "Tanhita'em, your name is somewhat long. Would it be easier to shorten it?"

I nodded. "Yes, Sa'nu. Merely being called Tanhi would be quite satisfactory, if it pleases everyone."

Pamti'gra laughed. "Ah, she takes after you, Raisyk. Sixteen Turns old and already a skilled diplomat."

I took it as a compliment, following behind my mother and father as we exited the alcove. Neytiri stood on the limb outside, greeting Raisyk and Pamti'gra with a simple "Kaltxi."

Raisyk, now known as Sa'nu, hugged me tightly before winking cheekily at Pamti'gra, now known as Sempu, and climbing quickly into the tree's upper reaches. Sempu gave me a terse but loving hunter's hug before following his mate up the Kelutrel. Neytiri turned to me, patting my shoulder with her slim hand. "Kaltxi, Tanhi. I had figured on your name-shortening. I think it much easier."

Heat rose into my cheeks, and I was probably more purple than blue right now. That was the problem with being a pale Na'vi, you turned purple easier. "Yes, Neytiri. I understand that I am to accompany you and your son to his Iknimaya?"

Truth be told, I almost didn't _want_ to make Iknimaya. the mere thought of flying on an ikran sent shivers down my spine all the way to the tip of my tail. It was unexplainable, really. I had flown a starship across a galaxy, yet I was afraid of flying on a creature I could directly think together with. Neytiri noticed, asking with the voice of a mother, "Is something wrong, Tanhi?"

I shook my head. "No, it's nothing. I'm merely a little unnerved by the sight of...of my human self." This wasn't entirely a lie. I was still shaken by that experience.

Neytiri didn't seem quite so satisfied, her golden eyes giving me the impression that she was seeing through me as if I were an especially transparent stream. Still, she nodded, leaping down a limb. She called out to me. "Come."

I followed, descending from Kelutrel to meet the Na'vi's prince, the one male that was so much more interesting than myself. As I dropped through branches, I wondered if I was worthy enough to meet him at all.

* * *

I dropped lightly to the ground behind Neytiri, still marveling at the wonder of being able to move with such grace, such agility. It's like I was born this way. I watched Neytiri as she walked to where her son sat, cleaning his knife with a piece of leather. Following closely behind her, I marveled at his strong frame, the muscles in his shoulders rippling when he reached for another piece of leather. He had a slightly more muscular physique than any of the other males, and I guessed that this was his minute amount of human DNA. His long hands worked a shiny substance onto the handle of the knife, and I idly noticed that he had five fingers, not four, also due to human DNA. Neytiri tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked up at her, speaking in a voice that was halfway between baritone and tenor. "Sa'nu?"

She gestured to me. "Atan, this is Tanhita'em, the newest Omaticaya. We will call her Tanhi. She is coming to see how an iknimaya works, so introduce yourself."

He stood, towering above me. He was the same height as Jake, with shaggy golden hair that almost reached his eyes. It was clear that he had stripes in place of eyebrows, which fit. His clothing was normal for a warrior, with an accessory of a beautiful netlike attachment to his loincloth. Red feathers dangled from the ends of the silky black strings which were woven together in a complex loop pattern. He stuck out his hand, a surprisingly human gesture. "Oel ngati kamie, Tanhi. I am Atan. Welcome to the Omaticaya."

I took his hand cautiously. "Oel ngati kamie, Atan. I am grateful to be accepted into the clan."

He smiled, a gentle smile that was even more human than the gesture of holding out his hand. "Well, now that the formalities are over with, let me be the first to say, 'Stay out of my mother's way.' I don't want you beaten to death by her training."

I blinked, shocked at his easygoing demeanor. "Uh...Thank you?"

"Ah, don't mention it." He whispered in my ear, "No, seriously, _don't _mention it. Sa'nu will just take that as an excuse to make me stay at Kelutrel and mind the 'eveng."

He let go of my hand and stepped back, leaving my head reeling from his resemblance to Jake. He looked more like Neytiri in facial features, with larger eyes and a more slender nose, just ever-so-slightly more rugged, with Jake's chiseled jaw. He definitely favored his mother. Still, his behavior, more more than his appearance, left me feeling as if I was standing in a fog. No, more like if I walked into my old lab on Earth and found it clean, without six different microscopes and assorted articles of clothing or instruments lying about.

Atan shook me out of my reverie by tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "Let's get you a hunting knife before we get going."

I followed him mutely, watching as he effortlessly wheedled a short, squat knife with matching sheath out of an elder male. He turned and handed it to me. I tied the knife onto the belt I found myself to be wearing, on the left hip where Neytiri wore hers. At that moment, Neytiri herself spoke up. "Atan, when you have completed Iknimaya, you shall begin training Tanhi."

Atan's red eyes widened. "Huh? I'm going to begin _what_, exactly?"

"Training Tanhi."

"Ha ha, Sa'nu. Wait-are you actually serious? Train her? But-"

"No buts, Atan!" Neytiri snapped. "It is high time you did something in preparation for the day you become Olo'eyktan. You _will_ do this."

Atan's ears drooped slightly, but he shook it off. "Fine, Sa'nu. But please-don't make me eat that nasty Kxaltani fruit anymore. It's not going to suddenly color me cyan."

With that, the white warrior dragged me behind him towards the Pa'li pasture, staring down anyone in his path and slowly collapsing my wrist. As he tugged me through the clearing surrounding Kelutrel, blue bodies scattered left and right when they spotted him, which wasn't too hard. His white skin and golden halo of hair lit up even in daylight.

He began to slow down, still gripping my slender new wrist in his long-fingered hand, when we neared a small group of tiny, four-foot tall Na'vi children, probably about six or seven Turns, or years, old. Their hands were covered in paint, and a flat piece of wood was on the ground in front of them. One young purple-smeared male looked up, spotting Atan. He ran towards him, speaking to Atan in a high, babylike voice. "Tsmukan!"

Atan let go of my arm in time to swerve toward the child and squat down to the ground, just as he was attacked by the boy. He tapped the boy on the forehead, saying, "No, Atiri. You have paint all down your front. I won't hold you right now, you're more purple than blue!"

The child pouted, crossing his paint-smeared arms and furrowing his little brow. Atan turned to me quickly. "Tanhi, this is Atiri, my younger brother. He is six Turns old, and he looks the most like Sempu. He always tries the pout-face when he doesn't get his way, so watch out."

I turned to the pouting six-year-old. I bent down, smiling kindly. Thankfully, I had a piece of leather wrapped around my upper body, so I wasn't walking around nearly topless. Small comfort. I spoke to the little boy in a voice I would have reserved for scared animals, soothing and slow. "Hello, Atiri. If you like, I'll hold you for a bit."

As the child's amber eyes lit up and he began to smile happily, Atan looked aghast. "Hold him? He's covered in paint!"

I unconsciously added a chastening tone to my voice as Atiri held up his arms imploringly. "Oh, I don't care. Anyway, most of it is dry."

I picked the little boy up easily, carefully shifting him to my right hip. His tiny arms and five-fingered hands circled my neck, and he stuck out his tongue at his brother. Atiri was surprisingly light to me, his cute babyish features lighting up even further when I gently tickled his side. He began chattering, smearing my shoulders with the purple paint all over his hands and forearms as I followed Atan towards the place where Jake was standing, practicing his marksmanship. "You much more fun than Tsmukan, Tanhi. I think you play with me more'n him. Maybe you even mate with Tsmukan so I can see you _aawl _the time!"

I giggled at his mispronunciation of the word _all _and his improper grammar_._ His hope I would end up with Atan was probably unfounded. Of course, I didn't really care. The boy was only six, so he was allowed to dream stuff like that.

I walked up behind Atan, waiting for Jake to release his last arrow. With a loud thud, the red-fletched arrow struck in the fifteen-inch target's four-inch bullseye about twenty yards away, a meager distance for a fully trained warrior. Jake turned to Atan, clapping him on the shoulder in an affectionate way. He then spotted me, carrying Atiri.

"Atan? Is Tanhi carrying Atiri?"

Atan nodded, acting put-upon. "Yeah. He pulled the pout, and she fell for it. Picked him up and just let him color her purple."

Jake laughed heartily, then walked up to me. "Kaltxi, Tanhi! Has my little one been bothering you?"

"Kaltxi, Olo'eyktan."

"Just Jake, thanks."

"Uh...Okay, Jake, then. No, I find Atiri to be a sweet young boy."

"Great! You can babysit him for us!" Jake nodded. "Well, Atiri, did you make a new friend?"

Atiri squealed "Sempu!" and reached for Jake, one little purple hand firmly tugging my ear. It didn't hurt once I leaned my head toward Jake, who held his younger son's hand gently in his far larger one. Seconds later, a loud thud was heard. We all turned, even little Atiri, to see a warrior regaining consciousness on the ground. He had been sparring with another male. Jake, still holding Atiri's hand, walked to him.

"Oh, ouch, Merkali. Are you all right?"

Merkali sat up, holding his head.

"Ohh...Ow...Fine, Olo'eyktan. Ouch, that makes twice in one sun cycle...Sanu's gonna kill me!"

Jake laughed, speaking to me as the tall, lanky, but slightly weedy Merkali tried to stand, weaving unsteadily. "Merkali is the eldest child of Norm and Ni'nat. He's three Turns younger than Atan."

Merkali had eyebrows, but four fingers, kind of the opposite of Atan and Atiri. He was stil rubbing his head when a yell from Neytiri startled us. "Jake! Atan! Tanhi! Give Atiri to Ni'nat and get moving, you are all wasting daylight!"

Jake's ears flicked back as he walked, chastened, to a long-legged, especially lanky woman glaring arrows at Merkali. I followed him with Atiri still attached to my neck and ear, halting in front of the woman. Jake grinnned at her in that easy way of his. "Ni'nat, Merkali's still learning, remember? He's got a good two and a half Turns before it's his turn for Iknimaya."

She nodded, looking at me, with my ear held firmly in the grasp of little Atiri, and cracking a slight smile. "This is the child with the special gift?"

Huh? What in the heck? Jake just grinned knowingly at me, then said, "Atiri, it's time to let go of Tanhi's ear. Ni'nat is going to take you now. Don't worry, Tanhi can play with you later."

Atari frowned, but let go of my ear, then nimbly jumped into Ni'nat's waiting arms. I rubbed my ear, grateful that he had let it go, since it had slowly numbed from the force of the child's little hand. Of course, now it had a strange pins-and-needles feeling like when your foot falls asleep. I continued to rub my ear, as Jake led us to the small clearing where the Pa'li, including Siltra, were. Jake catapulted himself onto a Pa'li, which struggled, squealing, for an instant before it calmed down. Jake grinned at me, saying, "I've never been much of a horse guy. More of a dragon dude."

Horse and dragon were said in English, as was the term _dude._ A thought raced through my mind. _Once a jarhead, always a jarhead. _Of course, it was only after he started laughing that I realized I had said it out loud and rolled my eyes at him whle I said it.

"I spoke out loud, didn't I?"

Atan nodded, his shaggy golden hair falling in front of his eyes. He brushed it away. "Yeah. I don't know what a Jarhead is, but if Sempu's laughing it's probably pretty funny."

As I cimbed back onto Siltra, who seemed to really enjoy me riding her, Atan mounted another, bigger Pa'li nearby, then trotted it over to Jake, who was still chuckling over my stupid comment.

"Let's go if we're going, Sempu. I'm going to lose my nerve if we wait any longer."

We thundered away from Kelutrel, and I followed the males toward the legendary Floating Hallelujah Mountains of Pandora.

* * *

***'eveng-children**

***Oel ngati kamie-I See You**

**A/N: As you may or may not know, I changed the character of Neytiri and Jake's child after a little more research into albinism and further thought on names. I decided that sure, Jake might want to combine Tsu'tey and Tom, but it A) sounded bad and B) could be considered as disrespect to the dead. So, his name is now Atan, meaning light. Also, Atiri is a product of babysitting experiences, and his name is in tribute to what I first thought Neytiri's name was because I couldn't understand Jake's accent.  
**


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